Fading Espers
by Boyce
Summary: Sailor Moon and FF6 Story SEQUEL to Blonde Exchange. The Espers of the world are slowly losing their power. What or who is draining their powers?
1. Reunion

Fading Espers, by Boyce

Chapter 1 : Reunion

**NOTE** : This fanfic comes after the events of Blonde Exchange. You will need to read it if you want to fully understand this story. It's written in a different format than this story. For those who are too lazy to do it, here's a very quick recap!

**Blonde Exchange** : Mina finds a snow medallion in a shop. Celes finds a fire medallion in a treasure chest. Both girls decide to wear them, and both are teleported in each other's universe (Mina in Figaro, and Celes in Tokyo). With the help of Terra, Locke, Edgar and Sabin, Mina finds a black medallion. She frees the spirit of the black chocobo from the medallion, and the giant bird teleports her back to her own universe, also bringing Celes back. Mina manages to bring her friends back with her to Figaro, and a new friendship is born between the two groups.

Here you go. I hope you enjoy this new story.

/# Figaro Castle #\

Figaro castle… Under the warm rays of the constant, almost unconfortable sun layed the fortress owned by the king of Figaro, Edgar. The sea of sand surrounding it mixed with the ability to dive under the dunes of the desert made it easily the most impressive structure of the world. A quick look from the exterior might give the impression it's abandoned, but the castle hides very well all the action going inside behind its thick brick walls.

A year had passed since the crazy events which allowed Mina and Celes to visit each other's world occured. For the occasion, the young king of the desert had invited Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita and Mina to a large banquet to celebrate the new friendship born from this meeting. Locke, Celes and Terra had come to help the king transform the usually dark and repulsive look of the castle into a more festive, dynamic fashion. Only the king's brother, Sabin, would miss this reunion, since he had left the castle months ago for an unknown destination, to train his fighting skills into a higher level of perfection.

The festivities were to be held in the dining room of the castle. The countless maids at the service of Edgar had done an amazing job at transforming this usually intimate space for the king's dinners. The rather small wooden table was replaced by a longer and more sturdy one, capable of receving at least a dozen of people. The small number of chairs placed around the table saw their numbers at least tripled to accomodate all the guests. And the usually calm and serious portraits of the king and his ancestors were now decorated with a river of dancing streamers, their colorful reach extending beyond the dining room.

In the corridor leading to the dining room, the main doors were opened. The sun was ruling the sky, not a cloud fighting for territory. A couple of meters from the gargantuan steel doors, the king and his three friends were completing the preparations.

Sitting on the hard rocky floor around a box of ballons, like they were a group of campers admiring a campfire, the group was busy inflating the elastic objects to give the castle its final disguise. "Come on guys. They are going to be here any minute now. We need to finish the preparations." said an impatient Celes.

Locke got the balloon he was inflating out of his mouth, and held the nozzle with his thumb and index, so that the air stayed prisoner of his sixth balloon. He turned his head toward Celes, and sent her a petryfing glare. "Hey! We're going as fast as we can!" he said to her, almost yelling.

The blonde finished tying a knot at the nozzle of the balloon she had finished inflating, and put it with a bunch of other balloons beside her. Locke was observing diligently her every movement. Celes reached inside the box to get a new balloon. She started pulling the extremities of the red balloon she just picked up. As she was manipulating it, she moved her eyes away from her own actions to meet the eyes of the treasure hunter... "It's not fast enough, Locke. You know, you could put more effort into it."

She stopped her speach, pointing her delicate finger at the 5 balloons Locke had inflated, compared to the 18 balloons ready at her side. Knowing she had already won this battle, she grined slighly, took a deep breath, and blew the air in the red object.

Locke knew very well the hot-temper of Celes, but still, he never liked to lose a battle to his comrade... battles he usually lost anyway. He raised his left hand on his head, adjusting his bandana slightly, a stressful gesture he often did when he didn't know what to reply.

Celes had removed the nozzle from her mouth, as if she wanted to add another nail in the coffin of her victim. "Give it up. You can't win against me, Mister Locke Cole!" added the rune knight, smiling.

He never really knew what to reply to Celes, but today was different. From his mouth emerged a short but powerful response. "Yeah, I know I can't fill these balloons as fast as you…" He paused, an evil grin appearing on his face. Celes looked at him, her blue eyes puzzled. She didn't think Locke would add a word after her last sentence. But he continued. "After all, I'm not full of hot air as you!" ending his supreme answer, and by the same time, his losing streak.

Celes coughed as she heard the end of the very short quote of Locke. Her fingers lost the grip of her red balloon, and it started to fly around the hall, releasing an unpleasant farting sound on its trail before squashing itself on the wall. Locke jumped quickly on his feet, putting his hands on his hips and starring proudly at the ceiling, as if he was the hero of an entire nation.

The battle happened in front of the eyes of Edgar and Terra. The green-haired woman was shooking her head, one hand on her forehead while the king was laughing loudly, his joy echoing on every wall of the castle. He finally stopped laughing, drying a tear in his left eye. "My God, I can't remember the last time I laughed this much. Locke really did it this time." he added.

Terra turned her emerald eyes toward the ruler, not even bothering to move her head. Her gentle mouth spoke: "I dream of the day these two won't fight."

"Oh but you know what that means, Terra…" replied Edgar. "It's only a matter of time before one of these two declares his love for the other, I just know it!"

Terra thought about getting another balloon, but she erased that idea from her head. Still sitting on the ground, she slid her feet close to her body and threw her arms around her legs, holding them just under the knees and crossing her fingers to hold the position. A beautiful, yet tiny smile lit the corner of her mouth. "You're absolutely right!" she said, dreaming of the day this would happen to her.

Her mind wandered off on its own. She wondered if she would even find a man for her, since she was not entirely human. Her esper side might annihilate any chance she had at love. The smile disappeared from Terra's face, leaving now a more delicate, thoughtful expression.

Edgar looked at his magnificent friend, knowing he might have made a mistake talking about the relationship between their two friends. He knew that, more often than enough, Terra talked to him about her concerns versus love. He knew, and probably forgot about it briefly... briefly enough to make a comment about it. He sighed, turning his teal eyes through the opened gate, toward the cerulean sky. "Such a beautiful day…" he thought. A short but refreshing breeze entered the main hall, surfing on his face. He turned to face Terra again, as if the wind brought him some instant wisdom.

The king appeared to hesitate a bit, but still managed to find the force to put his left hand on Terra's shoulder. Reality caught up with the roaming mind of the woman. Surprised, her hands disconnected from one another, and her arms had to let go of her legs. She almost fell entirely on the floor, but luckily, her agility saved her as she was able to stabilize herself with boths hands reaching the ground.

She turned her head and her crystal clear eyes met the eyes of Edgar. "Oh! Edgar! Sorry... I think I just got lost in my thoughts here…" she finally said. A cough also escaped through her small mouth.

"Don't worry, it's alright..." the king replied. He hesitated again, but finally spoke again: "Terra, are you okay?... I ... You've been coughing a lot lately…" Although he really wanted to link this question to what he said earlier about love, he unconsciously took an alternate route for the question.

This interrogation seemed to surprise a usual calm Terra. "Uh... yeah, I'm fine Edgar." she answered after hesitating.

Edgar wasn't fooled by Terra's answer. After all, like he said, Terra was coughing a lot lately, and she did seem paler than usual. But for now, he was going to be satisfied with her words. Maybe she just had a small flu, and didn't want to talk about it he thought. And they still had to finish the preparations for the party. Their guests could arrive any moment now. "Good! Then let's take care of the rest of these balloons!" he finally answered her.

She nodded slowly, smiling at her friend. With that, she sat as confortably as she could on the ground, and extended her arm to get a new balloon to inflate.

While the king and the esper were talking to each other, the battle was raging on between Celes and Locke. The strong female warrior had push her adversary on the floor, and Locke had no choice but to lay on his back while Celes jumped aggresively on him. She was sitting on his abdomen, giving a very 'bad' impression about the action going on to whoever would enter the hall at this instant.

"Apologize now!" she yelled at the thief, her taunting, vengeful fist dancing in the air.

"Never!" replied the proud prisoner, smiling under the cover of his arms crossed in front of his face.

"You asked for it, you greedy thief!" Celes ended. She knew how Locke hated to be called a thief, but at the same time, she needed her strongest weapons to counter-attack.

Celes' fist was about to land on Locke, starting his unavoilable torture when a bright flash of light blinded the entire stronghold. Celes had to stop her attack and cover her eyes to shield them from the intense display of rays. Edgar and Terra had to do the same thing. A light so strong, it would cause them to have a blurry vision for at least a couple of minutes.

The light disappeared as fast as it appeared. Only Locke was lucky enough to avoid the beam, since he was already hiding his face under his arms to shield himself from the attack of Celes. The treasure hunter found very strange that he didn't feel the wrath of Celes yet. He had been under her for a full 30 secondes, not that he disliked it. More often than not, he blushed under these same circonstances, making his defences weak and proving to be an easy prey for his attacker. Not anymore though. He studied the tactics she used against him, and managed to defend himself more efficiently. Not an easy thing to do, especially when the attacker is a very sexy and beautiful woman.

Locke moved his arms to clear a path for his eyes, and see what the blonde woman was up to. Having missed the blinding show, he was puzzled to see Celes hiding her blue eyes behind her hand. "What is she doing? I was opened for an attack!" thought Locke. He hadn't even thought about solving the mystery that he immediately saw this as an opportunity to counter-attack the rune knight. He grined maliciously, and raised both arms in the air as his wiggling fingers were aimed directly at Celes' ribs.

"I hope we are not interrupting anything, Locke". The soft voice seemed to spook the man, and momentarily separated him from his evil ambitions. He turned his head toward the entrance, where the words had come from. The bright sunlight coming in forced him to squint his eagle eyes. Even then, he was only able to distinguish some shadows standing between him and the entrance… although he didn't really need to see who was there, since he recognized the gentle feminine voice who spoke to him.

"Mina!" Terra exclaimed with joy, stealing the name Locke was about to shout. Obviously, the flash of light announced the arrival of their friends, but none of them realized it somehow. The long blonde hair girl was walking toward the group, in a slow pace and waving a cheerful hand. Slighly behind the blonde, her closest friends were following her.

"Hello Ladies!" said Edgar.

"Hi Edgar, what's up?" Lita replied to him.

The king pushed himself on his feet, putting his balloon on the ground at the same time, and went to meet the girls, as a true gentleman would do.

Locke tried to free himself from the grasp of the blonde woman to go and meet his friends, but Celes didn't budge. "Hey Celes, the girls are here. Stop fooling …", he said, but didn't quite finish his sentence.

As he looked at her, he saw that her face was red as a cherry. He also saw that his fingers were still wiggling inches away from the woman's hips. "Uh oh", he thought, a red tan appearing on his troubled face.

The color of her face turned into an even darker tone of red, this time from anger. She wasn't even thinking anymore. Rapid and swift as a bird, her arm swung through the air, and the palm of her hand impacted directly on Locke's defenceless cheek.

As if time had stopped, Celes' arm halted its course in midair, and didn't budge for long seconds. Watching her victim, she finally sighed silently and got up, releasing Locke from her grasp. She turned slowly to face the guests, a gentle smile on her lips. Seeing her beautiful expression of joy, you couldn't tell she went berserk seconds ago.

Serena, Amy and Raye appeared at Celes' feet, Lita and Mina hugging Edgar behind their backs. "Good after-noon Celes. It's really good to see you again!" started Raye.

She extended her arms, reaching the back of Celes with her hands, and hugged her. The blonde returned the favour.

Serena kneeled besides the defeated thief. "Observe Locke! That is how you should approach Celes." she told him. Amy and Terra started laughing, after hearing the wise words of the leader. Locke just stayed on the ground, trying to hide his blushing face behind his hands.

After they all hugged and Locke found the courage to join the group again, the king spoke to them. "My friends", he said with an imposing tone. "You arrived before we could complete the preparations for the festivies. I'm terribly sorry." he added pointing the multiple balloons on the ground.

Mina put a stop to the guilty speech. "Hey, it's not a problem at all. We'll help you finish decorating the place".

She was supported by her blue haired friend. "Yes. Let's all do this together. It won't take long if we all help each other".

Raye and Lita agreed with Amy, while Serena was nodding behind them, a green balloon in her hand.

"I didn't want to impose this on you, but you seem so enthusiastic to do this… So be it", concluded the king.

"All right people, let's do it", commanded Celes, her fist reaching for the ceiling.

The five girls from Earth screamed "YEAAAAH" together, prompting a smile from Terra, Locke and Edgar. They took the maximum of balloons their arms could carry, and started walking toward the dining hall.

End Chapter 1

Please tell me what you think. I tried to write in a more "descriptive" way. I hope it's readeable 


	2. Banquet

Fading Espers, by Boyce

Chapter 2 : Banquet

/# Dining room, Figaro Castle #\

"There you go", whispered Serena to the last balloon, as she let it go near the ceiling of the dining room, the object tied to a blue streamer.

While the group was putting up the final decorations, the maids were busy preparing the table. A dozen of maids were assigned to the task, coming in and out of the room carrying plates, utensils and food.

As the heroes were busy congratulating themselves with the new look they gave the room, one of the maids came to address the king. "Edgar, the table is ready." she told him. The Scouts always thought the castle's staff talked to the king as if he was a normal peasant, calling him by his name instead of "Your Majesty". But they learned with time that this ruler is Edgar, a very kind, joyful ruler who hates titles. He treats his personnel with the utmost respect, and didn't hesitate to eliminate the barriers of society inside the walls of his castle. He still had social advantages as the king, but everyone is treated fair and equally. And everyone respected him for that.

Edgar turned to face his friends, and extended his right arm toward the table. The room was instantly filled with cheers and laughs as they all looked at the table.

Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita and Mina were in awe at what they saw. At least a dozen of massive wooden chairs were scattered around: one on the smallest sides of the table, and 6 on each of the sides. On each one, a puffy aquamarine cushion was laying, giving a very soft touch to a normally hard antiquity. The table was recovered with a beautiful white silk tablecloth, with gold symbols representing the kingdom of Figaro on its corners. All around the edge of the table, the silver plates and cutlery reflected the dying rays of the sun, surrounding the area with a deceptive, yet magnificent orange aura. Crystal-clear glasses already filled with champaign kept company to the plates. An endless sea of food filled the middle, putting the perfect touch on a grandiose feast.

Shinny stars in their eyes, all of the girls screamed, jumped and hugged each other, thinking a setup like this existed only in their wildest dreams.

"Please, have a seat", continued Edgar opening the march toward the table. The Scouts followed him, giggling and whispering like school girls. Locke ended the line, with Terra and Celes in front of him. He didn't miss the occasion to observe in depth the details of the girls walking in front of him, almost drooling on the floor.

After a couple of steps, Edgar reached the short edge of the table. He put his elbow on the back of the solitary chair and his hand under his chin, taking a very relaxing pose. "Ladies, you go and sit on my left while Terra, Celes and Locke will sit on my right." he told them. They quickly followed his instructions. The leader of the Sailor Scouts sat next to the king. She was flanked by Mina, Raye, Amy and Lita. Sitting in front of Serena was the lovely Terra. Celes was sitting next to her and Locke sat on the third chair.

"This is so beautiful." said Raye.

The king turned his gaze to her. "I'm glad you like the setup, Raye. But this luxury is nothing compared to the strong friendship that unites us now."

Riding his short but strong speech, Edgar got up from his chair, taking his glass of champaign high in the air. "May this meeting cement our bond even deeper. CHEERS!" These royal words made everyone jump out of their chairs. "CHEERS!" they all repeated. The sound of the crystal glass gently touching each other filled the dining room.

They all took a small slurp of champaign to finish their toast. As Terra finished swallowing, she coughed heavily, almost dropping her crystal recipient on the table. She wobbled and Celes quickly put her free arm around her waist, to hold her tight. Locke took Celes' glass out of her hand, so she could have a better grip on Terra.

"Are you okay?" she asked her friend. "I'm… I'm okay. I just swallowed too fast and choke…" concluding her sentence with more coughs.

Again, Edgar saw right through her lie. This wasn't a normal cough, not the kind you get from choking on a drink. And the fact he saw sweat coming down on her forehead just solidified his theory that something was wrong with his esper friend.

Terra started feeling sick the week before the party. She felt constantly tired and had trouble sleeping. She lost most of her appetite. The cough though was a new symptom, something that started just yesterday. A tough, heavy cough, ripping through her throat. She thought it was a flu, and wasn't really concerned about it. She didn't want to miss the party.

But for the second time, Edgar didn't say a word. He didn't want to make everyone worry about Terra, although he could clearly see that Terra's lie didn't fool anyone of his guests, not even Serena, standing besides her loyal friends, hands on her heart.

As Celes helped Terra sit on her chair, one of the maids entered the room, taking small but fast steps, her high heels echoing in the dining room. She was holding firmly to a glass of water, and scanning the area to see who made these awful coughs. She didn't have to search long, looking at Celes tending to her friend. "Here you go, Miss Branford."

Terra looked at her, and gladly took the water from the maid. "Thank you very much, miss." she replied softly.

The maid smiled warmly before turning back to exit the room. As she passed by the king, he nodded and smiled at her, approving her actions.

Terra emptied the glass of water in only a few seconds. "Careful girl… Don't want to choke again!" Celes told her while rubbing softly her back.

Terra's emerald eyes locked on Celes, and smiled. "Thank you, I feel better now." She looked at all her friends, taking a shining fork. "I'm sorry about this. Now how about we start eating!!" That last burst of energy comforted her friends, who all responded to her with a smile.

All except Edgar, who was lost deep in his thoughts, wondering what was going on with Terra. It was the blue-haired Amy who helped the king back to reality.

"Edgar, can I ask you something?"

His empty eyes quickly regained their colourful glow, and he looked at her, blinking and shaking nervously his head. "Amy, I'm sorry. What is it?" he finally said.

"Well, I was wondering how come there were 12 plates on the table, while we are only 9 here"

Amy was right, as always. There were three empty seats at the table, and nobody realized it. They were too amazed by the glamorous setup (Raye, Lita, Mina, Amy, Serena), concerned for Terra (all of them, especially Celes), craving over the food (Serena and Mina's plates were already full of food), or just busy looking at beautiful girls (Locke).

"Hey, you're right Amy!" said Lita looking at the empty seats. Lita thought she was a bit far from the group, but didn't want to complain since their friends put so much effort in preparing this anniversary.

Edgar grinned slightly. "A fine observation, my young friend…" replied the king.

As he was about to explain the situation, the maid who came minutes ago entered the room again. She walked to Edgar's chair, and whispered to him while covering her mouth.

"Finally!" he replied, like he was waiting for something. "Come in come in".

As he said that, the Scouts looked at each other, puzzled. Amy looked at her friends in front of her, seeking a reaction. But neither Locke, Celes nor Terra could give her an answer. They looked as confused as they were. The attention got back toward Edgar, now walking toward the exit of the room with his arms extended on each side, as if he was going to grab something gigantic.

A man appeared through the door. A tall man, with long black hair tied by a ponytail, and a mustach living under his nose. Wearing a bronze armour over his black suit, he was walking slowly in his leather boots toward Edgar, a hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

"Welcome my friend!" the king told the man.

"Edgar, it's been far too long." he replied. They exchanged a powerful handshake, while Edgar put a hand on his comrade's shoulder.

"Huh… Celes? Who is this man?" asked a puzzled Mina. They all turned their confused gazes toward the swordswoman, except for the heart-shaped eyes of Lita, still analysing the new guest.

"That is Cyan Guaramonde, king of Doma Castle." she calmly answered, her delicate fingers holding her cup of champaign.

"That's Cyan? So he's the man who lost his family to Kefka? How tragic" thought Amy. The girl clearly remembered the night at the Cherry Hill Temple where Celes told her about her world and her friends, and their fight against Kefka. The part about Doma Castle where Cyan lost his beloved Elayne and his son due to poison was the saddest moment of that evening. Amy looked at him again, saddened by the pain this man had to overcome.

Locke had joined Edgar and Cyan, to greet his comrade. They were now laughing, and Cyan loud laugh traveled throughout the entire castle. Celes got up from her chair. "Come, I'll introduce you to him."

Serena, Amy and Mina followed her lead, while Raye was busy trying to bring Lita back to her senses. "Come on Lita. Not another crush?!" Terra decided to stay seated, amused by the girls but still feeling the effects of her cough.

Raye finally succeeded in her mission, and the feminine group walked slowly toward the two kings and Locke, still busy chatting. The dark eyes of Cyan quickly shifted from Locke to Celes and the group of beautiful girls standing behind her. They looked at each other. "Hello Cyan, how are you doing?" she finally said, proposing a hand shake.

He took her hand gently and shook it. "I'm doing fine Celes, thank you." She still could feel in his eyes that he didn't trust her entirely. After all, she was once a general of the Empire, and it was that same Empire that attacked Doma Castle and killed his family and the king back then. By the time these terrible events happened, Celes was charged with treason and made a prisoner of the Empire, but still, Cyan always saw a glimpse of suspicion in her, no matter what she did to prove to him she wasn't a spy.

She sighted. "Cyan, these are the Sailor Scouts we spoke to you about. Serena, Amy, Mina, Raye and Lita, this is the mighty king of Doma castle, Cyan Guaramonde."

Cyan looked at Celes, a quick smirk appearing on his face, and turned his attention toward the five girls. "My Ladies, it's an honour to finally be able to meet you." he politely said, bowing his tall body in front of them.

They all blushed slightly… all except Lita who blushed intensely. "Wow, he's more king material than Edgar, don't you think?" whispered Mina to Raye. The priestess giggled at the remark of her blonde friend. Cyan shook all of their hands very gently.

"Hi everyone" said a high-pitch voice.

Everyone's attention turned to the little girl who just passed the door. Small but energetic, her red cheeks matched perfectly the color of the scarf on her head and her long puffy pants. The black garment she was wearing on her upper body stopped just below her shoulders, leaving her naked arms and shoulders exposed. Her skillful hand was manipulating two pencils, the items dancing smoothly with her fingers.

"Relm, you made it!" said a happy Edgar. "I thought Strago locked you at home to study magic."

"Yeah… well magic is not really my thing. I don't know why grandpa insists so much about it" replied the little girl.

"In other words, you snuck out" added Celes. Relm looked at her, and turned her eyes to the ground, swinging her right leg back and forth.

Relm turned her head toward Locke and Edgar, to plead her case. "But… but I had good reasons to come here! After you sent us the invitation, I wanted to meet your friends too!" she said, pointing her finger at the confused Scouts. "And there's one other reason: we…"

As she was about to explain her second argument to defend her cause, a strange voice cut her explanation short. "Kupo! Don't blame Relm for this. Although it was fairly easy, I'm the one who persuaded her to come here today, kupo!"

And one more time, the attention of everyone in the room switched to the newly arrived guest. A moogle, covered in its signature white fur, was leaning on the doorstep. The Scouts were blinking and looking at each other, stunned by the fact the creature talked. Edgar greeted the moogle in his domain.

Still in front of the Scouts, Cyan smiled and introduced his friend. "Ladies, this is Mog. Don't be surprise by his innocent look. He's one of the best fighters of…"

"Wow! He's soooooooo cute. It looks just like a living teddy bear!!!" screamed an impolite Serena.

"Serena! No! Don't…" Locke's advice came obviously late. Edgar took a couple of steps back, knowing the mistake Serena just did. Celes and Relm imitated him.

"KUPO!" replied the angry moogle. Mog sent a malicious look to Serena.

"Huh… what's wrong guys?" asked the pig-tailed girl.

"Mog is a moogle, not a teddy bear. He hates being compared to a stuffed animal." answered Cyan, taking a safe distance toward Serena. Amy, Raye and Lita also took a couple of steps back. Amy grabbed an innocent Mina by the arm, and pulled her back with them, leaving their leader exposed.

"Please Mog… She didn't know." Locke tried to reason him, but it was too little, too late. Mog closed his tiny eyes and started dancing very slowly. Each movement of his arms and tiny purple wings accompanied perfectly his graceful gestures. He started spinning slowly on himself, dazzling the crowd around him with the fluidity of his actions. He spun faster and faster for a couple of seconds, until he stopped his dance in the blink of an eye, his deep stare undressing Serena.

The castle structure slowly disappeared, and a plain covered in snow appeared. Heavy snow flakes were falling from the grey sky. The moogle lifted both his arms at the sky, still gazing at a completely lost Serena.

"W..w…. what's going on here?"

Before anyone could answer Serena, Mog put the final touch to his attack. "Snowman… JAZZ" he screamed. In less than a second, a giant snowball formed itself over Serena's head, and fell on her. Her blonde head popped on top of the snow, wiggling like a wet dog and spitting snow. The landscape disappeared, leaving the place to the castle walls. Mog bowed in front of the SnowSerena he just created, and exploded in laughs. Relm couldn't resist the funny scene, and started laughing with her furry friend.

The Scouts were stunned. "Amazing! Did you see that? It was some sort of illusion, but it seemed so real" expressed Amy.

"T-t-t-tell me about it", replied a shivering Serena, still stuck in the snow.

"That wasn't an illusion Amy, but the special power of Mog. He can control nature elements with his dances. He's a bit short-tempered as you can see." added Edgar while the moogle was rolling on the floor, still proud of his actions.

Witness to the whole scene, Celes walked angrily toward her furry friend : "Stop laughing Relm. And Mog, that was very rude toward our guest. Apologize to Serena right now."

While Relm had a hard time to contain her emotions, the moogle rapidly stopped laughing and jumped on his tiny legs. "No. She insulted me, kupo!" he said crossing his arms and turning his back to Celes.

"That's no reason to attack her like that. She couldn't know since this was the first time she saw a moogle in her life." she replied.

Celes lied a bit, but not entirely. Serena DID know about Mog since Celes told her about him when she was accidentally teleported. But she had never met a real moogle. What Celes didn't know was the shock of seeing a "walking, live teddy bear" would erase all trace of self-control in Serena.

While the rune knight and the small moogle were arguing, Mina and Raye were giving Serena a helping hand. "You've done it again, meatball head." said the priestess, shaking her head.

"S-s-stop lecturing m-me and help-p me out-t…" replied the young heroine. Mina and Raye were both pulling on Serena's arms to free her from her snow prison."H-harder guys!" whined Serena.

"What… do you think… we're doing???" said Mina, her tense voice indicating the force she was using.

Weakened by the warmth of the castlethe snow slowly started to melt, loosening its grip on the blonde girl. Serena felt her body move. "Guys, it's working! Keep…" In the middle of her cheering, the snow finally crumbled under the force used by Mina and Raye. The two girls fell on the floor, losing their grip on Serena and sending her flying across the room: "it uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup BOOM". She crashed a couple of meters further into a wall. All the efforts Relm made to stop laughing were annihilated in a flash, as her laugh invaded the room again.

"My God!" whispered a stunned Cyan. "Meh… that kind of stuff happens all the time with us." replied Lita who joined Cyan with Amy.

He looked at the tall brunette: "But the impact…"

"Don't worry, we are talking about Serena here. She'll be fine" she added, smiling.

Cyan aimed his concerned gaze at the crash site, and saw Serena sitting on the floor, scratching her head. She was looking at Mina and Raye. "Why did you throw me like that?"

"Oh no… OH NO!!! Don't blame us for what just happened!" yelled an impatient Raye. She jumped on her feet and ran toward Serena, who just got up herself. The two started arguing.

"Don't worry, that's also part of the routine…" said Amy before Cyan could even open his mouth.

He looked at Amy, and then at the gazing contest between Raye and Serena. "I see" he said, smiling. Mina was still on the floor, shaking her head slowly.

Everyone was looking at the scene, smiling, even laughing at what they just saw. Like the roar of a thunderstorm, a crisp sound of shattering crystal brought everyone back to reality. They all looked toward the dining table, where the sound came from. On a chair sat a heroine who once helped to save the world. Her head laid silently on the wooden table, her shining green hair falling on each side of her pale face. Her right arm hung above the ground, as her fingertips were bathing in a small pond of alcohol on the floor, the liquid coming from the broken glass.

"Oh no… Terra!!" screamed Edgar.

He rushed to the aid of her friend alongside Locke and Celes. She took her friend's hand and talked to her : "Terra, wake up. What's wrong?"

Locke took her hand gently and checked her pulse. "Edgar, her pulse is very week. She needs a doctor now!!".

The Scouts quickly stopped arguing, and looked very worried at the scene, holding each others hands very firmly. Cyan gazed at the scene like a statue, although inside he was worried for his comrade. Strongly holding Cyan's legs, Mog was hiding himself behind the warrior, trembling with fear. Beside him, small Relm held Cyan's other leg, her emotions quickly shifted from extreme joy to deep concern.

Edgar turned to his maid, who came in after hearing the horrible sound of shattering glass. "Prepare a bed, now!" ordered the king. The maid bowed, and ran as fast as she could out of the dining hall…

End Chapter 2


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